KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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FCC says "no" to lifetime amateur radio licenses

Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:38 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


I dont know about you, but I saw no purpose in this petition, especially
since renewing a license is now free and very easy to do online..Dan

SB QST @ ARL $ARLB021

ARLB021 FCC Says No to Lifetime Amateur Radio Licenses

ZCZC AG21

QST de W1AW

ARRL Bulletin 21 ARLB021

From ARRL Headquarters

Newington CT June 24, 2016

To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB021

ARLB021 FCC Says No to Lifetime Amateur Radio Licenses

The FCC has denied the petition of an Arizona radio amateur, who had
petitioned for lifetime Amateur Radio licenses. Mark F. Krotz, N7MK, of
Mesa, had filed his Petition for Rule Making (RM 11760) with the FCC last
November, and the FCC invited public comments in February. Krotz wanted the
FCC to revise Part 97.25 of its rules to indicate that Amateur Radio
licenses are granted for the holders lifetime, instead of for the current
10-year term. Hundreds of radio amateurs commented on the petition, but the
FCC was not swayed by those favoring the idea.

Based on our review of the record, we are not persuaded that the petition
discloses sufficient grounds for the requested rule change, the FCC said in
a June 21 Order. Krotzs primary argument is that extending the term of
amateur licenses to the lifetime of the holder would reduce the Commissions
administrative and personnel costs, but it is not clear to us that the
proposal actually would enhance administrative efficiency. Thats because
the vast majority of license renewals are submitted online and processed
automatically by the Universal Licensing System (ULS), with minimal staff
involvement, the Order said.

The FCC said it had further reduced its overhead by no longer routinely
mailing out paper licenses. [i]f license terms were extended to the holders
lifetime, we likely would receive more cancellations on account of the
licensees death, which are labor-intensive, because staff must carefully
verify the deceaseds identity and licenses in order to guard against
erroneous cancellations, the FCC said in its Order, signed by Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau Deputy Mobility Division Chief Scot Stone.

Krotz argued that the General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL)
already is issued on a lifetime basis, but the FCC said thats not a
comparable situation, because an Amateur Radio license is both an operators
license and a station license, and there is no Commission precedent for
issuing a lifetime station license.

In 2014 the FCC granted lifetime credit for examination elements 3 and 4,
but applicants seeking relicensing under that provision still must pass
examination element 2. The FCC pointed out in its Order that this was done
to address the concerns of commenters that a licensee who had not renewed
also may not have maintained or expanded his or her knowledge and skills.

NNNN

/EX

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